Summer 2002 Research Report Jennifer Alix Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics "Deforestation in the Commons: A Village-Level Approach"

 

This project proposes to examine the determinants of deforestation in common property resources of Mexico. Field research during the summer was spent on finishing the design of a survey, pre-testing, and applying the survey in 500 rural communities. The data will be used as a basis for my dissertation and several other studies that will serve to inform the design of a payment for environmental services program in Mexico.

Purpose of Travel
Over the past 20 years, Mexico’s forest cover has decreased by over 50%, with rates of deforestation second in the world only to Brazil (Market Report, April-May 2001, U.S. Forest Product Industry, Mexico Office, http://www.afandpa.org/products/International/MR_Mexicomay01.pdf). This shocking realization combined with the evidence linking forest cover to water quality and carbon sequestration, have inspired the government to take action in the form of a payment for environmental amenities program. Although similar programs have been successfully implemented in other countries – including the United States and Costa Rica – the Mexican forests are in the unique situation of being located almost entirely in common property lands, the owners of which are among the poorest in the country. It is within this context that this summer’s activities took place; the immediate objective of the trip was to collect data for a deforestation model with a community perspective.

The survey is the first step towards reaching two larger objectives. First, on a practical level, the analysis of this summer’s data will provide the foundation for the design of Mexico’s payment for environmental amenities program. Second, the research based upon this information proposes to answer the broader question of which local institutions lead to more sustainable management of commons resources. The answer to this question and the design of the payment scheme will serve as the basis for my dissertation.

The central function of the survey is to understand both the state of the common property resources housed by ejidos (land-holding units created in the wake of the Mexican revolution whereby large extensions of land were divided up to be managed in common by groups of peasants), as well as the decisions taken in their management. To this end, the instrument combines community mapping, an indirect census, and questions regarding outcomes of decision-making and characteristics of those making decisions. This project brings together Mexican and U.S. academics with policy-makers in order to design a program of payment for environmental services in the common property forests of the Mexican countryside. The project, though managed by the Instituto Nacional de Ecología (INE), was jointly financed by the World Bank, the Iberoamericana University, and the Centro de Investigación y Docencias Económicas.

Outcomes
My two months spent in Mexico city were divided into two central activities: design and application of the survey.

Design
With the support of professors from UC Berkeley and staff of the INE, the survey was modified and pretested during the month of June. Part of the instrument depends heavily upon pre-designed vegetation maps of the community which serve as a starting point for answering questions regarding land-use. The other half of the survey is an indirect census intended to collect information regarding relative wealth levels and leadership within the community. The survey is designed to be administered to four or five community representatives, who have generally been elected by the village assembly.

In addition to testing that had taken place in the spring, the maps and survey were tested in five communities in the states of Mexico and Puebla. June also saw the training of surveyors and regional coordinators, in which I also participated jointly with the INE and the Iberoamerican University.

Application
In order to complete the survey in five weeks, the country was divided into five zones, each with a regional coordinator. Sixty surveyors were hired with the intention of their working in teams of two. I worked as coordinator of the Southeast region, composed of Southern Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo. The responsibilities of the coordinator range from organizing appointments with ejidos, transportation, per diem, food and housing for the surveyors to reviewing and coding questionnaires, correcting surveyors in the field during their application of the instrument, and serving as something of a social worker to the group.

Transportation between cities often came in the form of overnight buses, and we were fortunate enough to receive the support of the regional offices of the Agrarian Reform for travel to the communities, generally in the back of their pick-up trucks. My four survey teams completed their 60 ejidos in less than four weeks, at which point I accompanied two teams to Southwest Chiapas to support the coordinator in that region and sent two of my teams to Jalísco in Central Mexico.

Current Activities
Presently, the last completed surveys are being reviewed by the national coordinator in anticipation of the data entry process which is to begin this week. Data analysis is scheduled to be completed in the winter, at which point I will begin analysis of the information together with the counterpart researchers in Mexico. The survey data will be used both as a basis of my thesis as well as research taking place at Mexican universities. With regards to the payment for environmental services program, a pilot project has received financing for April of 2003.